Chapter 2

Previous

 

“I love you, princess,” I said to my daughter as I kissed her goodbye. She was going back to her mother for the rest of the week.

 

It took three years for Felicia and me to come to a custody agreement after the divorce. We got married when she got pregnant, mostly due to her mother’s prompting. I was in love with Felicia at the time, or so I thought. The relationship was rocky from the get go. We were together just under a year before we got married. We went to the courthouse and eloped when she was six months along. Our relationship took a nasty turn when Josie was two. Felicia cheated on me, with a woman. Most of my friends, that knew, didn’t see a problem with it. What guy didn’t want to think about his wife screwing another woman, right? At least that was most of their arguments, Felicia’s too. The fact was, she’d broken our vows. I tried hard to get through it for the following four years. As far as I knew she never cheated again but we were a lost cause. I’d lost way too much respect for her that I couldn’t gain back.

 

Josie had just turned eight. She was a beautiful, smart little girl that realized her mother and I didn’t like each other. We tried to stay civil for her. It wasn’t our daughter’s fault we didn’t get along.

 

“I’ll pick you up Wednesday after school, alright?” I brushed the curly wisps of hair back from her forehead. It was nearly impossible to tell she was my daughter. She had her mom’s skin color and thick, curly hair that was a pretty chocolate brown color with natural blonde highlights. Her hazel eyes were the death of me anytime she batted her long eyelashes at me. She had my height and my smile. That was about it.

 

“Okay. I love you, Daddy,” she said.

 

“Love you too.” I knew I’d just told her but I wanted her to know it without a doubt. I looked up at Felicia and said, “I think she’s starting to get sick. She complained of a sore throat this morning when she got up. I gave her some throat spray and she’s been fine.”

 

“Okay. Thanks,” Felicia replied. “Is her homework done?”

 

“Yeah, it’s in the front pocket of her bag.” We figured out the safest bet was to limit our conversations to strictly about our daughter. Felicia was a good mother, that was the least I could have asked for.

 

She nodded and added, “I’m going to have some papers for you to sign next time you drop her off. I want to take her to Lake Havasu to go camping.”

 

“For how long?” I needed to know if it was going to cut into my time with her.

 

“We’d be gone for a week but you’ll get your time made up when we get back.”

 

“Alright,” I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll see ya.”

 

“See ya.” Felicia turned and went inside the house we used to share.

 

I turned to walk back to my truck. When I finally moved out I found a nice house with marina access. I had a Hollywood family and moved away from Los Angeles down to San Diego when I was eighteen. I went to culinary school to become a chef and opened a restaurant ten years before. I wasn’t sure what kind of restaurant I wanted and when I opened it I had a handful of employees trying to help me figure it out. That was where I met Felicia. She came in to apply to become a waitress and I was immediately taken with her. She got the job on the spot. I was pretty sure Josie was conceived in my office.

 

In the end I transitioned into a breakfast cafe. I was able to spend more time with my daughter that way. I had a nanny, Heidi, that came over in the mornings when I had Josie. I left the house at four so I wasn’t home to take her to school. She was a sweet, older Swedish lady that my dad recommended. Jo liked her the first time she met her so she stayed. She’d been with us for two years. My first year on my own my Mom came down to stay with me. She had to get back to her life and my dad so I hired Heidi.

 

Once I dropped Josie off I fired up my truck and headed over to Dawson’s garage. The cafe was closed for the day and that’s where I spent most of my afternoons. Some days I helped, most days we sat there and drank beer until it was time to close up shop. Perks of being the boss.

 

Tray Dawson and I met in junior high school. We had our English and Biology together. We got paired up on a science project and we’d pretty much been best friends since. He was my daughter’s godfather. He stood by me through all my shit with my ex-wife and I was there through the slough of women he went through before he met Amelia. She changed him for the better when they hooked up. He was a bachelor through and through. Fast cars, motorcycle, never settled with one chick. Didn’t do laundry or eat anything that didn’t come out of a drive thru window or a microwave. He met the little hippie chick online of all places. It was love at first sight when they met face to face. I fucked with him about it for a while but then I got to know her and realized she was pretty fucking awesome. She wasn’t my taste, but she was perfect for Tray.

 

When I arrived I parked out back next to his chopper. It was fuckin’ badass. I’d asked him to build me one, but being his friend I managed to drop down to the bottom of the list, paying customer or not. I grabbed the six pack I had with me from the passenger seat and sauntered into the back of the garage.

 

“What’s up shitstain?” I asked as I took a seat in one of the chairs he had sitting there. I leaned back and cracked open a beer.

 

“Not your IQ,” he smirked. “Where’s the munchkin?”

 

“Just dropped her off with Felicia.” It probably wasn’t the safest, but Josie adored Uncle Tray and loved coming to the shop with me. She knew what she could and couldn’t touch.

 

“Too bad. She makes this place look good. Of course so does the friend of Amelia’s that’s staying with us. I think you met her once,” he said. “You dubbed her Jugs McGee.”

 

“No shit? She’s also the one that snubbed Amelia and kicked her out of the wedding, right?” I couldn’t remember what her real name was but I did remember her fantastic rack. And the turd she brought with her that was scared to get a sunburn if he left the house. I wondered what she was doing in town. She should’ve been on her honeymoon according to Amelia.

 

“Something like that. She called off the wedding about fifteen minutes before it was about to pop off,” Dawson said. “She’s staying with us for a while until the dust settles or Felicia turns her.”

 

I laughed and said, “She has a lady she supposedly loves, but I guess once a cheater, always a cheater. Damn though, I wish I would’ve taken a page out of Jugs’ book. Is she still smokin’ hot?”

 

“She’s in honeymoon shape. You tell me.”

 

“My ex’s honeymoon shape was round,” I reminded him. “I should swing by the house and embarrass myself,” I laughed. I was good at that.

 

“I’m sure Ames would love that,” he snorted. “Sookie’s actually in the lobby right now waiting for her safety inspection to be done.”

 

“Really?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

 

“Yes really, vulture,” he smirked.

 

“I just want to say hi, that’s all,” I smirked back. I wasn’t seeing anyone. She wasn’t seeing anyone…

 

“Oh yeah, I did just meet you yesterday so I believe you,” Dawson deadpanned.

 

“Do you know how long she’s staying?” I didn’t want to be completely creepy.

 

“Not a clue.”

 

I set my beer on the ground under my chair so no one kicked it over. I stood up and straightened out my T-shirt before I walked into the main lobby. Sookie was standing there looking out the window at the street in front of the shop.

 

“Hello,” I said from behind her.

 

Her head turned and she looked at me with zero recognition in her eyes. “Hi. Are you working on my car?”

 

“Nope, Tray’s friend,” I corrected her. “I thought I’d say hi. We’ve met before, the last time you were in town. I’m Eric.” I thrust out my hand as I stepped forward.

 

“Eric? Hmm… I don’t remember you.” She shook my hand anyway. “Sookie Stackhouse.”

 

“Nice to meet you, again, Sookie,” I chuckled. “I spend a lot of time at the house so I imagine I’ll be seeing you again. How long are you in town?” She had a sad look in her eye that sucked. I’d been in a similar spot before. I didn’t know the circumstances of her split, but a break up is a break up.

 

She was a lot prettier than I remembered, most likely because I didn’t take my eyes off of her tits last time. I made sure to keep my eyes above her neckline. If she was going to be in town a while I had a feeling I’d be seeing her a lot more than expected. I didn’t want to be a pervert. I had a daughter to raise and I didn’t want her to think being ogled by some schmuck was alright.

 

Lead by example… Even if she wasn’t with me.

 

“I’m not sure,” she answered. “Depends on if I can find a job here.”

 

Huh…

 

“What kind of work are you looking for?” I asked. I was always looking for good help at the cafe. It seemed all my good ones would quit or do something stupid to get them fired.

 

“Princess?” I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not.

 

“The only princess position I have is filled by my daughter,” I chuckled. “I’m always looking for a good server at my cafe, though.”

 

“Uh, thanks, I think I’ll pass.” Her tone was a little on the snooty side for my taste.

 

“Suit yourself. It was nice meeting you again, Sookie,” I nodded. “I’ll see you around.”

 

“Maybe.”

 

Right…

 

I turned and went back into the garage. I picked up my beer before sitting back in my chair. She wasn’t the type of girl I wanted to get involved with. At all. Not that I was looking to get involved with her. I did need to get laid though. Sookie’s spoiled rich kid attitude was too much of a turn off. Her tits couldn’t make up for being a snob. In the couple minutes I spent with her I could tell she wasn’t my type.

 

“She’s… pleasant,” I said to Dawson before taking a drink of my beer.

 

“That explains the look on your face,” he snorted. “She’s not that bad, just a little… snobby.”

 

“I’m sure she’s fantastic,” I shrugged. I had no interest in getting to know her. “Let me guess, spoiled rich kid?” I asked. I had the potential to go down that road, I chose not to.

 

“Her silver spoon is shinier than Amelia’s,” he said. That put things into perspective. Dawson’s wife came from a seriously loaded family.

 

“I see. When she says she looking for work is she looking for an actual job or is she looking to ride an old man’s dick to get paid?” I asked.

 

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he answered. “I know she went to college with Amelia in Boston. Even if her parents bought her way in I doubt they could have bought her degree so she can’t be completely useless.”

 

“When I asked her what kind of work she was looking for she said princess. I’m pretty sure she’s looking for a sugar daddy,” I chuckled. That was too bad. She was a really pretty girl. I obviously didn’t know her well enough to judge her but what I met wasn’t exactly pleasant.

 

“Could be, but I doubt it. She just left her fiancé at the altar because he wasn’t The One,” Dawson told me. “Doesn’t sound like a girl willing to settle to me.”

 

“Or his bank account wasn’t big enough,” I shrugged. It didn’t matter either way. I’d run into the girl at the Dawson’s house, we’d probably say hello and move on.

 

“Doubtful, bro. His bank account was right on par with hers. Old Southern money,” he said.

 

“Doesn’t matter anyway. I doubt I’ll talk to her much,” I said. I had more important things to think about than a spoiled rich girl that left her man at the altar. It wasn’t like I was looking for a girlfriend, maybe a new waitress, but I doubted she’d ever worked a day in her life. She wouldn’t be any good at it anyway.

 

“Probably not,” he agreed.

 

“So when are you going to get off your lazy ass and start working on my chopper?” I teased. Dawson rarely had down time.

 

“As soon as I finish my board meeting,” Dawson replied and promptly reached down to scratch his balls.

 

“Obviously high on your list of priorities,” I laughed.

 

“You know it.”

 

“So Felicia is taking Jo to Lake Havasu for a week. We also managed to have a one hundred percent civil conversation,” I smiled. Those were getting more and more frequent, but Felicia and I were like oil and water.

 

“So that’ll blow up in your face really soon,” he predicted.

 

“Probably,” I shrugged. It wasn’t anything new. “It would be a lot easier if Jennifer wasn’t such a twat.” That was Felicia’s girlfriend. She was kind to my daughter, so I kept my mouth shut but we did not get along. I had a feeling if she had it her way I would drop out of the picture. She had a way of manipulating Felicia into thinking I was fucking things up between them when they fought. She was a man hater in general, or so it seemed.

 

“I still think she secretly wants your junk,” Dawson said. He knew that annoyed the piss out of me.

 

“She wouldn’t know what to do with it if she had it,” I grumbled.

 

“I’m guessing she’d used those chompers of hers,” he laughed.

 

“You’re a sick fuck,” I laughed too. It made me cringe thinking about it. Jennifer was the type of girl that would kill any kind of hard-on. She wasn’t the type of lesbian one wanted in their porn.

 

“You know I’m not wrong.” Fucker was still laughing. “We’d have to change your name to Erica when she was done. You two would have matching haircuts.”

 

“I don’t even know what to say to you,” I chuckled.

 

“You’re welcome for the visual,” he snickered.

 

Fucker.

 

“I’m not going to be able to get a hard-on for a month.”

 

“Eh, it’s not like you had anyplace to put it anyway,” Dawson shrugged. Dick.

 

“I wouldn’t mind putting it in Amelia’s friend if she didn’t seem so fuckin’ cold,” I chuckled. I learned early on the spoiled rich girls were boring as fuck in bed.

 

“Hundred bucks says you change your mind when you see her in a bikini,” Dawson smirked.

 

“A nice body can’t make up for a shitty personality and a boring lay. It doesn’t count if my hand is more lively than the girl,” I reasoned.

 

“You don’t know that she’s a boring lay.”

 

“The upturned nose told me all I need to know.” I was beneath her because I did real work. If I wanted to I could sit on my ass and do absolutely nothing and get by just fine, but even with millions in my bank account I wasn’t a stranger to hard work. “I can imagine it now. Flat on her back, eyes shut, maybe a whimper every now and then.”

 

“Just like she was trained to do,” he said.

 

“Exactly,” I chuckled. “Now, if she stops looking at me like gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe we might talk. I’m sure I could bring her out of her boring bubble.”

 

“It’s possible. We both know how far you’ll go for a good set of knockers.”

 

“Yeah, marry them and then spend three years trying to get over them cheating on me,” I said. If it wasn’t for Josie I wouldn’t have stayed.

 

“Lucky for you the munchkin won’t be thinking with her dick like Daddy does.”

 

“I feel sorry for any boyfriends she has,” I snorted. “They have two dads to get through, and then Uncle Tray.”

 

“Two dads? Since when you do bat for that team?”

 

“Me and Jennifer, dick,” I said. Jennifer had been in the picture for almost three years. I didn’t see her going anywhere.

 

“Just checking. It’s been a while since I saw you with a chick and you turned down Jugs McGee…”

 

“I didn’t turn her down; I just need proof that she’s fixable. Maybe a few weeks away from home will help her out. She needs to lose that judgy look and then we can talk,” I shrugged.

 

Dawson shook his head. “Do I need to point out the hypocrisy of you judging her for judging people?”

 

“No,” I laughed. I knew how bad it sounded. I wouldn’t write her off. I was just rubbed the wrong way with our brief interaction. I knew she was going through some shit too.

 

Lead by example.

 

I would stop talking shit and get to know her if she was going to be around. She might have been a great person, I didn’t know. Amelia liked her, and she walked away from her family. She couldn’t have been all bad.

 

Next